Gooch wants to fulfill wishes

The Preds' new GM and president asks team employees to outline their needs.

July 31, 2007|By Josh Robbins, Sentinel Staff Writer

Before he was formally named the new president and general manager of the Orlando Predators on Monday, Alan Gooch asked team employees to write down a wish list of items they need to do their jobs better.

What else would you expect from a former UCF assistant football coach who wanted the school to build an indoor practice facility but never got one during his tenure?

"What you do as a leader is provide resources for your people to be successful," Gooch said after his introductory press conference at Amway Arena. "That's my role now with this organization. I have no problem taking that on and trying to fulfill those wish lists as they bring them to me."

A UCF assistant coach from 1982 to 2003, Gooch now will be less responsible for recruiting players than he will be for recruiting new corporate sponsors and new fans for a team that says it has about 11,000 season-ticket holders.

After he left coaching, Gooch spent 18 months as the executive director of UCF's Golden Knights Club -- a fundraising arm of the athletic department -- and he also founded a commercial real estate firm.

"He understands the delicate balance between the game of football and the business side of football," said the team's majority owner, Ron Howse. "I thought he'd be a good person because he knows everybody in town. He's got an impeccable reputation."

Howse and Gooch agreed to a three-year deal on July 22, though Howse said the financial details haven't been fully worked out yet.

Gooch, 47, replaces Brett Bouchy, who has run the Predators' day-to-day operations since 2003. Bouchy said he left the franchise to be closer to family in Phoenix and to buy an ownership stake in the AFL's Arizona Rattlers.

Gooch is likely to take a larger role in football operations than Bouchy, according to Orlando Coach Jay Gruden.

Gruden's wish list is simple: He wants to add more assistant coaches and he wants a new video system that will allow him to review game tape.

"With Mr. Gooch here, things will change a little bit," Gruden said. "I think he'll have a lot more hands-on approach and help us out a lot more in getting players and keeping players here. That can only be beneficial."